Perseus cluster

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Perseus cluster

(Abell 426) A rich cluster of galaxies lying about 70 megaparsecs away in the direction of the constellation Perseus. It is the brightest cluster observed in the X-ray waveband. It also contains several strong radio sources, three of which have been identified with the galaxies IC 310, NGC 1265, and NGC 1275. The most intense radio source (3C84A or Perseus A) is associated with the dominant cD galaxy, NGC 1275. This lies at the center of the cluster's cooling flow, which has a mass deposition rate of around 200 solar masses a year (see clusters of galaxies). NGC 1275 shows nuclear continuum activity (it was originally classified as a Seyfert galaxy) and is surrounded by a particularly extensive (up to 40 kiloparsecs in radius) nebula of line-emitting filaments. HST images show it is also surrounded by many globular clusters. Study of the galaxy is complicated by the presence of an intervening disk galaxy, with its own emission-line spectrum, that is falling toward NGC 1275 along the line of sight at 3000 km s–1.

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